London

St Martins-in-the-Field

Up to an hour…
Soak up classical music
The North London Festival of Music and the City Music Society present 50-minute lunchtime gigs at The Bishopsgate Institute Great Hall in the City. From September 12-November 28 the hall will host a selection of up-and-coming international classical artists from string quartets to Lithuanian pianists to song recitals. Most events are £3 for City Music Society members, £6 for non-members, £3 for senior citizens, students and the unwaged, and free to students aged between eight and 22, but a small proportion are free to all.
The Bishopsgate Institute, 230 Bishopsgate, EC2 (020 7392 9200/www.bishopsgate.org.uk) Liverpool St tube/rail.

Go to church
St Martin-in-the-Fields also runs free lunchtime concerts. Next is the Royal Over-Seas League Series at 1pm on Friday with Leslie Neish on the tuba and Malcolm Forbes-Peckham on the piano.
St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square, WC2 (020 7766 1100/www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org) Charing Cross tube/rail. Feature continues

Hire a bike

Get on your bike
With the weather getting stickier and the tubes clammier, bicycles are the best way to get a breath of fresh air and get to the nearest Pret without risking suffocation. London shops will hire out bikes for one-hour stints (visit www.timeout.com/cycling for our guide to two-wheeled fun in the capital), allowing you to stretch your legs, and arrive back refreshed for your three-hour meeting. The London Bicycle Tour Company has a decent selection of bicycles and helmets and charges by the hour. For more information on cycle routes visit the London Cycling Campaign’s website: www.lcc.org.uk.
The London Bicycle Tour Company, 1a Gabriel’s Wharf, 56 Upper Ground, SE1 (020 7928 6838/www.londonbicycle.com) Waterloo tube/rail.

Save a life
It’s certainly more productive than sifting through your bulging inbox deleting creepy messages from Stuart in Finance. Giving blood (a pint to be exact) takes roughly an hour and there are centres all over London that hold frequent donation sessions. King’s College will be hosting one on September 6 from 9.30am-12.30pm and 2-4.30pm. Check out The National Blood Service’s website to find your nearest session and more information.
The National Blood Service (0845 7 711 711/www.blood.co.uk). King’s College London, Great Hall, Strand, WC2 (020 7836 5454) Temple or Holborn tube.

Go snooker loopy
Double-kiss, drag, pack and pocket at your nearest snooker hall this lunchtime. The downside is that you usually have to be a member to play, but the upside is that membership for most places is a snip at around £10 a year. There’s a wealth of rooms to choose from, but Time Out’s favourites are the Acton Snooker Club with its 17 full-size snooker tables and the Mayfair Snooker Club, where famous cue-wielder Jimmy White used to practice.
Acton Snooker Club, 3 East Acton Arcade, Old Oak Common Lane, W3 (020 8743 8284/ www.londonsnooker.co.uk) East Acton tube. Membership £10 per year. Cost £3.60 per hour.
Mayfair Snooker Club, 145 Upper Tooting Rd, SW17 (020 8767 7202) Tooting Bec tube. Membership £15 per year. Cost 11am-6pm £3.50 per hour, from 6pm £5 per hour.
Wandsworth Snooker & Pool, 63 Wandsworth High St, SW18 (020 8874 1252/www.londonsnooker.co.uk) Wandsworth Town rail. Membership £15 per year. Cost £3.60-£4.50 per hour.

Jazz at the 100 Club

Jazz up your lunch break
The 100 Club regularly puts on midday performances with The Sussex Jazz Kings (11.30am-2.30pm) for a mere fiver, so you can relax while noshing on lasagne from the inhouse Club Café. Check the website for details of the next lunchtime show.
The 100 Club, 100 Oxford St, W1 (020 7636 0933/www.the100club.co.uk) Tottenham Court Rd or Oxford Circus tube.

Brainy lectures

Become clever
Lunch-hour lectures at UCL recommence in October, the first on Tuesday 10 led by UCL biology professor Steve Jones, entitled ‘Why Intelligent Design is Stupid’, and the second on Thursday 12 about terrorism, Palestine and Iraq, led by Emeritus Professor Ted Honderich. Both take place at the Darwin Lecture Theatre from 1.15-1.55pm.
Darwin Lecture Theatre, Gower St, WC1 (020 7679 97/020 7679 9719/ www.ucl.ac.uk/news/events) Goodge St tube.

Take to the open road
Driving around central London might not seem like the most appetising activity on your lunch-break, but the G-Wiz electric car is genuinely fun to pootle around in – and if you choose to invest in one (from £6,999) you’ll be doing your conscience-easing bit for the environment as well. You can hire one for an hour online at www.goingreen.co.uk and it will be brought out to you at one of four locations – Connaught Square, W2; Swan Lane, EC4; Ossulston Street, NW1; or Southall, UB1.

Take a Royal tour
For a digestible chunk of art, the Royal Academy offers free lunchtime tours of the John Madejski Fine Rooms and the Permanent Collections, covering the history of the building itself as well as the stuff on the walls by the likes of Fuseli, Turner, Constable and Hockney.
Tours start at 1pm Tuesday to Friday. Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, London, W1J (020 7300 8000).

Prince Charles cinema

Catch a matinée
If the boss is away and you’re feeling cheeky, why not turn off your mobile and slink off to the cinema? Though it doesn’t screen the absolute latest films, the Prince Charles Cinema, off Leicester Square, charges just £3 for a weekday matinée performance, while on its famous Fridays every show is a mere pound – as is the beer. One of the oldest cinemas in the UK, the Phoenix in East Finchley, is similarly cheap. An Early Bird Matinée at around 12.30pm is only £4.50, including a free cup of tea or coffee to pep you up before going back to work.
Phoenix Cinema, 52 High Rd, N2 (020 844 4678/ www.phoenixcinema.co.uk) East Finchley tube.
Prince Charles Cinema, 7 Leicester Place, WC2 (020 7437 7003/www.princecharlescinema.com">www.princecharlescinema.com ) Leicester Square tube.